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Lobster, Potted

A spread of lobster meat blended with butter and seasonings, set in jars and topped with clarified butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 13,015 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Lobster, Potted

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Pick out all the soft meat from the lobster and rub the claw meat through a sieve.

Make the potted lobster

  1. Mix the lobster meat with the butter and add the seasoning.

  2. Blend until smooth, adding the butter gradually. Do not make it oily.

  3. Press the mixture firmly into small jars.

Set

  1. Pour clarified butter on top.

  2. Set aside in a cool place until the butter has set.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Pepper + nutmegtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together13,015 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Meat + lobstertop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together909 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  3. Nutmeg + buttertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together24,377 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  4. Butter + meattop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,594 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Butter + lobstertop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,609 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Lobster meat
Provides the main flesh and savoury flavour of the dish.
Butter
Binds the meat into a smooth spread and adds richness and moisture.
Clarified butter
Forms a sealed top layer that protects the potted lobster from air.
Essence of anchovies
Adds a salty, savoury depth to the lobster.
Nutmeg
Adds a warm, aromatic note that complements the seafood.

The step that matters

Blend the butter gradually. Adding butter slowly lets it emulsify evenly with the meat. Adding it all at once or over-blending can separate the fat and leave the spread oily.

Swap the nutmeg

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, butter, meat, lobster):

  1. Parsleyfits better
  2. Thymefits about as well
  3. Tarragonfits about as well
  4. Nutmegthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, butter, meat, lobster. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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